Fraternity revokes charter at Penn State following violations of ‘every rule that was imposed’

Updated Sep 17, 2019; Posted Sep 17, 2019

The charter of Sigma Alpha Mu at Penn State University will be revoked by the national organization overseeing the fraternity, the university announced Monday. That does not mean the fraternity house (pictured) in State College won't be a continued nuisance for the university, though, officials say.

Two years after Penn State suspended recognition of one of its fraternities, the Sigma Alpha Mu International Fraternity announced it is closing the charter at the university.

The announcement came earlier this month after the organization investigated repeated reports by university administrators of continuing behavioral issues at the Mu Lambda chapter, according to Penn State.

The university had taken aggressive measures to curb dangerous drinking and hazing two years ago following the death of Timothy Piazza, who died after a pledge night at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.

Penn State suspended recognition of the Sigma Alpha Mu chapter in State College following multiple violations.

“Sigma Alpha Mu knowingly violated every rule that was imposed,” Damon Sims, Penn State vice president for Student Affairs, said at the time of the initial suspension.

Despite the loss of university recognition, which revokes the fraternity’s privileges as a student organization, it continued to operate as a fraternity chapter for the last two years.

The international fraternity announcing now that it is closing the chapter does not necessarily mean members will longer live at the house in State College. According to Penn State officials, members are violating a State College borough ordinance that requires university recognition to operate a house, but that ordinance has been challenged in court.

The house itself is privately owned and the leases of those living there are still in effect.

“Our foremost priority in these circumstances is the safety and well-being of our students,” Sims said. “We continue to encourage and foster the positive aspects of the fraternity and sorority experience, while working to minimize the risks that membership or participation in these groups sometimes poses. But in cases such as this one, when a suspended chapter continues to operate without University recognition, it is nearly impossible for the university to have sufficient influence to discourage the risks present.”

Recognition was originally suspended in April 2017 following what university officials say were multiple violations by the fraternity of the university’s rules on alcohol use, which had been banned that spring semester following Piazza’s death.